SOCCER: One of the borough's oldest amateur football club has folded after town hall planners forced it to make way for a car showroom.

After more than 50 years in existence, Littlemoor FC has finally folded, four years after being made homeless.

Planning permission for the showrooms on Ward Street, off St Mary's Way, was granted in 1997. Since then, the club, which formed in 1947, has not had a permanent home.

Stockport Council has been accused of "breaking its promises" to the club, but has strongly denied responsibility for the club's closure, claiming the dispute is "between the club and the developer".

Since 1997, the club has been shunted around various pitches in the borough.

Frustrated club secretary Stan McQuarrie said: "It's the end of an era. The council kept saying this and that and we've been on six or seven pitches since we left Ward Street. All they wanted was for us to get off Ward Street so they could forget about us."

When Littlemoor was forced from its historic home, the club was promised a new pitch at Warth Meadow, Lower Bredbury.

But it was soon on the move again because the pitch was unsuitable. Drainage was poor and bricks stuck up through the turf and injured several players.

Since then, the club has played all over the borough, but never found a permanent home.

Club chairman Mac McClellan said: "We tried to keep Ward Street, we fought for it. We knew that they had to provide us with a suitable ground, they offered us money. We could have taken the money and run, but we wanted a ground.

"We've played at various places, one minute we're at Bramhall, the next we're somewhere else.

"The lads were fed up with being messed about. We were promised a lot, but it never materialised."

Coun Martin Miller, who fought to keep the Ward Street pitch, said: "The council failed at every stage to make sure the club had the facilities required by the league. It's a tragedy. A very bad decision has been compounded by incompetence.

"I hope they feel embarrassed, they publicly stated that they would ensure Littlemoor would survive."

But a Stockport Council spokeswoman said: "The council does not accept that it played any part in the club's demise. We feel that we have done everything we could to help the club stay afloat.

"A condition of the planning permission was an agreement between the developer and the football club to provide new pitches.

"The club and the developer dispute the suitability of the pitches, the council merely brought the two parties together.

"We are surprised to hear that the club is folding because we had a meeting with the club secretary and the secretary of the Cheshire League and it was agreed the club could use Woodbank Stadium, which are high quality pitches as an interim measure."